Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 42862 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6F-02973

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02987

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2024

To ask the First Minister, further to the regulations relating to XL Bully-type dogs coming into force, to whom a dog owner can apply for advice on whether their dog fits the conformation of the XL Bully-type, in light of reports that a substantial number of dog owners in England are now applying to deregister their dogs having established retrospectively that their pet does not conform to the Defra definition of an XL Bully-type dog.

Question reference: S6F-02972

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-26082

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 25 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the UK Government's alcohol duty freeze in the Spring Statement on (a) public health harm, (b) alcohol deaths and (c) hospitalisations due to alcohol consumption in Scotland.

Powers to set alcohol duty are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government would strongly recommend that the UK Government considers public health as part of any review to alcohol duty, and clearly considers potential effects and impacts of decisions.

The Scottish Government recently laid regulations to continue and to increase the minimum unit price of alcohol to 65 pence per unit. Modelling published by Sheffield University in September 2023 looked at the potential impact of changes in the minimum unit price level on alcohol consumption and health effects, and also considered the relationship between different rates of alcohol duty and the impact of MUP. This modelling formed an important part of the range of information considered in developing our MUP proposals.

The Scottish Government will continue to review the data relating to alcohol, including on consumption, sales and alcohol related harm, in considering its approach to tackling alcohol harm in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-26049

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 25 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) how many meeting room bookings within the Scottish Parliament estate have been made in each of the last two years, broken down by those that were made by (a) ministers or ministerial staff, (b) SPCB staff, (c) non-ministerial MSPs or MSP staff and (d) anyone else.

There were 6983 meeting room bookings in 2022 and 8852 bookings in 2023.

For the purposes of this response these numbers have been adjusted to reflect bookings for meetings only. Bookings for activities such as MSP sponsored events, maintenance, broadcasting checks, set up times etc. were filtered out to leave the following totals:

5817 meetings in 2022 broken down as:

ministers or ministerial staff 312
SPCB staff, 4599
non-ministerial MSPs or MSP staff * 835
anyone else 71 (CPGs)

7505 meetings in 2023 broken down as:

ministers or ministerial staff 964
SPCB staff, 5343
non-ministerial MSPs or MSP staff * 1060
anyone else 138 (CPGs)

*It was not possible to identify non-ministerial MSPs as a separate group. Therefore, the category MSP/MSP staff includes Ministers acting in their capacity as an MSP and includes all Members who have been a Minister for all or part of each year.

Question reference: S6W-26120

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 25 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to question S6W-25694 by Tom Arthur on 4 March 2024 and S6W-25695 by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2024, what consideration it has given to amending the conditions of grants, loans and its contracts with third parties to preclude parties that have transferred jobs overseas, commonly referred to as offshoring, from such support and agreements.

Contract terms & conditions are focused on the delivery of the contract, and are proportionate and relevant to the contract subject matter. Procurement rules require equal treatment, transparency, and proportionality in public procurement processes, precluding the exclusion of companies who conduct their business lawfully.

Grants entered into by Scottish Ministers and any public body subject to the Scottish Public Finance Manual are subject to the principles set out in the manual and have appropriate terms and conditions applied to protect public resources.

Question reference: S6W-26126

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policies on animal welfare in Scotland, whether it plans to engage with the Competition and Markets Authority's review of vet charges across the UK, and, if so, how.

Question reference: S6W-26086

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support, including for (a) start-up costs, (b) introduction payments and (c) marketing support and promotional campaigns, (i) it and (ii) VisitScotland has paid, or allocated, to airlines since 2017, broken down by the (A) airline and (B) route.

Transport Scotland, VisitScotland and Scottish Development International work as one Government team to help Scotland’s airports grow international connectivity.

In the case of target routes and strategic markets, support takes the form primarily of collaborative marketing activity. Transport Scotland and VisitScotland invest together in a programme of marketing activity delivered primarily by VisitScotland and in collaboration with the airline concerned. Where the airline elects not to invest cash in this activity, the collaboration may take the form of in-kind support. We do not provide support for start-up costs or introduction payments.

All relevant airlines serving Scotland benefit from the increase in awareness and demand generated by VisitScotland’s own core destination campaigns in key markets which include the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, France, China. Additionally, and providing specific support to those airlines returning to Scotland post-pandemic, Transport Scotland and VisitScotland funded a Fly Direct campaign in the spring of 2022, promoting all airlines serving Scotland’s airports direct from these markets plus the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Sweden, and Australia. In the spring of 2023 and of 2024, VisitScotland has continued to include direct access messaging in its campaigns with partners including Expedia and Skyscanner.

For reason of commercial sensitivity it is not possible to itemise each route and the level of support provided, but the net investment by Transport Scotland and VisitScotland, including with that of specific fly direct campaign activity, is provided in the following table.

	Transport Scotland /VisitScotland net investment
2023-24	£518,000
2022-23	£273,000
2021-22	£1,010,000
2020-21	£45,000
2019-20	£189,000
2018-19	£700,000
2017-18	£974,000
2016-17	£436,000

Question reference: S6W-26124

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policies on animal welfare, what assistance it provides to support pet owners who are struggling to meet any costs related to vet charges.

The Scottish Government recognises the issues raised by pet owners concerning the cost of veterinary care for their animals, but does not provide financial support for veterinary charges. Regulation of the veterinary profession is a matter reserved to the UK Government.

For those experiencing difficulties providing treatment for their pets there are options available. In June 2023 we welcomed the expansion of the Scottish SPCA’s Pet Aid initiative to include veterinary treatment which can assist owners struggling financially. Concerned owners looking for help and advice can contact the Scottish SPCA, in confidence, via their helpline on 03000 999 999 or can visit their website to find out more details of their Pet Aid scheme https://www.scottishspca.org/pet-aid

Additionally, StreetVet assists homeless pet owners and the PDSA provides free or reduced cost treatment to those eligible and receiving benefits.

Question reference: S6W-26125

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policies on animal welfare, whether it has undertaken any recent analysis of vet charges in Scotland.